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Handouts and Reading Questions

General Handouts

Rubric for Group Discussion Grades
Guidelines for the Interpretive Essay

Week 1: Getting Started

"From Author's Pen to Epub" (slides)

Week 2: The Canon and Inspiration of the NT

Reading Question

You are having coffee with a friend when she turns to you and says "How can you believe in the New Testament anyhow? Wasn't it just picked by a bunch of old white men to impose their ideology on the church? And how could you believe that God speaks through a book when you know it was written by human beings?"
What might you say in response? (Assume that your friend is well educated and interested in details. In other words, be sure to draw on the details of the reading as you reply to your "friend".)

Slides

"Why These Books: Canon and Inspiration of the NT"
**Please note: Due to problems with my web-hosting company the online grade submission app is not accessible. Until further notice, please just send me your peer grades by email.

Week 3: The Gospel of Mark and Transformational Interpretation

Reading Questions

  • In what section of Mark's plot do we find 10:13-16 and how should this affect the way we read the passage?
  • What are the dominant themes in Mark's Gospel and where do we see these themes appear in 10:13-16
  • If Sarah is typical of many among Jesus' broader circle of disciples, how does Jesus seem to want to transform someone like her through his words and actions in 10:13-16? What changes does he try to produce in her thinking, her actions, and her emotions?
  • What kind of situation does Mark's audience face in Rome? How does the Evangelist want this passage to transform that later audience?

Slides

"The Gospel of Mark: The Conquest of God"

Week 4: The Gospel of Matthew

This week's passage

Matthew 22:33-46

Reading Questions

  • Where do you see the themes that characterize Matthew's Gospel appearing in this story?
  • There are several individuals and groups present in this story. Which one seems to be the main audience for Jesus' actions? Which group is he hoping to influence?
  • If Sarah had followed Jesus all the way to Jerusalem, what effect do you think Jesus' words and actions here would have on her thinking, her behaviour, and her emotions?
  • In the ancient world teachers and leaders often established their status (or were shamed) by winning public debates. What might this suggest about Jesus' aims here?
  • What kind of effect would the author of Matthew hope the story would have on Demetrius? How would the intended change be like or unlike the change Jesus hoped to provoke in Sarah?
  • Where does this story appear in the broad "plot" of Matthew's Gospel? How does this structure help us to understand the author's aims in the passage?

Slides

"The Gospel of Matthew: New Moses and New David"

Week 5: The Gospel of Luke

**Please note: Since my own chapter on Luke is not as well developed as I had hoped it would be, please also read the chapter on Luke's Gospel in Cousar.

This week's passages

Luke 1-2 and Matthew 1-2
Luke 10:38-42
**Remember to skim the whole book of Luke as well**

Reading Question

  • Compare the opening sections of Luke and Matthew. What similarities and differences do you see between their accounts of Jesus' conception and birth? Do any of the differences amount to a conflict or can they be harmonized?
  • How does each Gospel's birth and infancy narrative reflect the particular themes and interests of each Gospel writer?
  • In the story of Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38-42), where do we see first-century social conventions being broken? How do the characters respond to this shocking behaviour?
  • In the story of Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38-42), where do we see first-century social conventions being broken? How do the characters respond to this shocking behaviour?
  • How does this story contribute to Luke's main themes and emphases?
  • In any story the audience's focus is drawn to shocking or surprising events and to repetition (including themes or imagery that has been seen repeatedly elsewhere in the book). Given this tendency, what does Luke encourage his audience to treat as the main focus of the story?
  • How would Jesus' actions likely change Martha's thinking, behaviour, and emotions? What change does Luke try to provoke in Theophilus? How would those changes be alike and how would they be different?

Slides

"The Gospel of Luke: God's Kingdom for the Poor"
"The Synoptic Problem"

Week 6: The Gospel of John

**Please note: Since my own chapter on John is (again) not as well developed as I had hoped it would be, please also read the chapters on John's Gospel and the Johannine Letters (1,2,3 John) in Cousar.

This week's passages

Matthew 26:47-28:20, Mark 14:32-16:8, Luke 22:47-24:52, and John 18-21
John 6:22-71
**Remember to skim the whole book of John, as well as 1, 2, and 3 John**

Reading Questions

  • Compare the passion and resurrection narratives in all four Gospels. What similarities and differences do you see? How would you explain these similarities and differences? How do they reflect the distinctive focus of each writer?
  • How does John use Exodus imagery in John 6:22-71?
  • Where in this story do we see John's distinctive emphases?
  • How does this story illustrate the differences between John's Gospel and the Synoptics?
  • What impact do you think John wanted the story to have on someone like Patroclus?
  • What seems to be the problem that the "Elder" is addressing in 1 John? How does he want to influence his audience's thinking, acting, and emotions?
  • What kind of situations seem to have prompted the writing of 2 John and 3 John? Do these letters add anything significant to our understanding of Jesus, the church, or life in Christ? Why do you think they were included in the canon?

Slides

"The Gospel of John: Light In the Darkness"

Week 7: The Acts of the Apostles

**Sorry that I forgot to post the reading questions earlier this week! I've reduced the number of questions to lessen the inconvenience. Please read the story of Krates from Witnesses of Hope (Acts) as well as Cousar's chapter on Acts.**

This week's focus passage

Acts 17:16-34

**Remember to skim the whole book of Acts**

Reading Questions

  • What themes and emphases continue from Luke's Gospel to Acts? How does the focus change in this second volume? What new issues are introduced?
  • How does Acts 17:16-34 illustrate the main themes and emphases of Acts?
  • How would Paul hope to change Krates through his speeches in this passage? What kind of change is the passage designed to provoke in someone like Theophilus? (thinking, acting, feeling)

Slides

"Acts of the Apostles: The Spirit's Witness to the World"

Week 8: The Earlier Paul

This week's focus passage

1 Corinthians 8:1-15

**As usual, remember to skim the biblical books (1-2 Thessalonians, 1-2 Corinthians) as well.**

**Note that there are readings for this week from both Witnesses of Hope and Cousar. Also, my chapter “I and II Corinthians: Living the New Creation” is unavailable, so you do not need to read it.**

  • Why do some scholars insist that Paul was not "converted" to a new religion in his Damascus road experience? What changed in his beliefs when he came to faith in Christ and what did not change?
  • Richard Hays has said that Paul's ethics are based on three principles: the community (i.e., what benefits the church), the cross (as a pattern and example of right action), and the new creation (i.e., the restored pattern of life that follows God's intent for creation). How does Paul use these three principles to advise the Corinthians in 1 Cor 8?
  • If Cassandra is one of those at Corinth who regards herself as "wise" and joins in eating "idol meats," how does Paul hope to change her thinking, her acting, and her feeling through this passage?

Slides

"A Woman's Place? Untangling Paul's Statements about Women"

Week 9: Paul, Israel's Law, and the People of God

This week's focus passage

Romans 3:21-26

**As usual, remember to skim the biblical books (Galatians and Romans) as well.**

  • In Galatians 3-5, what role does Paul suggest torah should take in the believer's life? Why?
  • Does Paul take the same attitude toward the Galatians and the Romans? Does he see them as standing in equal danger because of their approaches to torah?
  • How does Paul hope to transform someone like Orpheus with his statements in Rom 3:21-26?
  • Why do some commentators argue that chapters 9-11 are the real focus of Romans? Do you agree? Why or why not?
  • People often say that Paul is against "rules." Based on Galatians and Romans, is this an accurate interpretation of Paul's theology?

Slides

"Paul's View of the Law"

Week 10: Christ, the Cross, and the Future

This week's focus passage

Phil 3:17-21

** Please read my partial chapter on Philippians and Colossians as well as Cousar's chapters on Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. **
**As usual, remember to skim the biblical books (Philippians, Colossians, Philemon) as well.**

  • What does Paul say in these letters about the nature and identity of Christ? Does Paul hold a trinitarian understanding of Jesus' relationship with the Father?
  • How is Paul's teaching about Christ's nature in Colossians and Philippians supposed to help each audience deal well with its circumstances and challenges?
  • What seems to be Paul's aim in Philemon? Why would the early church have included such a short, personal letter in the canon?
  • How does Paul hope his words in Phil 3:17-21 will change Lydia's thinking, her acting, and her feeling?

Slides

"The Gospel according to Paul"

Week 11: ** Dr. Scott Away **

No class or new reading

Take this week to get a good start on your interpretive essays.

Week 12: Paul's Disputed Letters and Hebrews

This week's focus passage

2 Timothy 2:14-21

** Please read the sections in Cousar on Ephesians, 1-2 Timothy, Titus, and Hebrews. **
** Please note that my chapter “Beyond Paul? The Problem
of Authorship and the Pastoral Letters” is not available and is not required. This also means that the figure of Pelleus, mentioned in the course syllabus, is not available either.**
**As usual, remember to skim the biblical books (Ephesians, 1-2 Timothy, Titus, Hebrews) as well.**

  • Why do many scholars think that 1-2 Timothy, Titus, and Ephesians were not written by Paul? How would this possibility affect their role and status as scripture?
  • What picture of Timothy do we get from Paul's exhortations in his letters? What kind of issues does he face? What kind of roles does he play?
  • If we take this scenario at face value, what change does Paul want to produce in Timothy in 2 Tim 2:14-21?
  • According to Cousar, what seems to be the overall goal of Hebrews?